The monthly subscription price will be set at 52 euros instead of 49. The annual subscription price will rise to 520 euros (499 up until now).
The monthly subscription for travel to and from the airport will increase from 60 to 64 euros.
As for the Brupass, the trip goes from 2.40 to 2.60 euros, the 10 trips from 16.80 to 18.20 and the one-day from 8.40 to 9.10. The monthly subscription will cost 65 euros (60 until now) and the annual 650 euros (600 today). For the Brupass XL, the trip will cost 3.50 euros (3.20 currently), the 10 trips 24.50 euros (22.40 today), the monthly 91 euros (84 until now) and the annual 910 euros (840 at the moment).
These price increases do not affect preferential fare tickets. STIB school and 18-24 year-old Brussels subscriptions remain at 12 euros per year. Children under 12 travel free of charge.
New accreditation standards for Brussels nursing homes
The reform of the accreditation standards that must be met by establishments for the elderly in the Brussels Region will come into force on 1 September. These new standards will essentially aim to “improve the quality of life and care of the elderly” in rest homes and rest and care homes in the capital, specifies the public body Iriscare, in charge of implementing the reform.
The aim of the latter, adopted on 18 January by the Brussels Parliament, is in particular to harmonise the various approval standards, to support the transformation of nursing homes into “living spaces”, to enhance the capacities and encourage the autonomy and independence of the elderly, to improve the quality of care and the well-being of residents, to strengthen staff training and to open up establishments to local life, lists Iriscare.
This involves action plans, additional training and new obligations, particularly in terms of equipment and infrastructure. It will also be prohibited to impose supplements for certain options, such as in-room dining or the provision of wireless Internet.
Measures are also planned in the long term, such as wireless Internet connection in each room and common areas by 2026, the installation of height-adjustable beds by 2029, and the obligation by 2034 to install exterior solar protection systems on windows (with the exception of north-facing facades).
Nursing home workers and managers have been informed of the various measures since the beginning of the year, and Iriscare has called on the King Baudouin Foundation to offer a support system to nursing homes for the implementation of these new standards.
A new bonus for general practitioners
From September 1, general practitioners will be able to request a bonus from the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Inami) to hire support staff in their practice, announced the office of Public Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke.
The aim of this initiative is to give general practitioners more room for manoeuvre and more time by allowing them to delegate certain administrative tasks or simple medical procedures.
Doctors who apply will be able to benefit from a bonus of between 5,000 and 7,500 euros, depending on the number of applications, for the first recruitment of support staff. Applications can be submitted until October 31.
Also read For doctors, vocation takes precedence over income
Time credit: no more sanctions if the worker ends it early
From September 1, a worker who terminates his time credit, his ordinary career break or his thematic leave early during the minimum duration provided will no longer have to reimburse the ONEM for the interruption allowances received, indicated the national employment office. An exception applies, however, for the end-of-career time credit.
Until now, if the worker interrupted his leave with benefits before the minimum duration (which can be up to six months in the case of 1/5 time credit), the benefits received were considered to have been unduly received and were recovered by the ONEM.
The worker who terminates his leave before the originally requested expiry date will, however, lose the balance of the credit allowing him to reach the minimum duration (except in the context of leave for palliative care), specifies the ONEM.
Also read: Changes to career break requests
Reimbursement criteria for speech therapy sessions expanded
From September 1, reimbursement for speech therapy sessions will be temporarily extended to all children with mental disabilities, regardless of their intelligence quotient (IQ) level, with the exception of autistic children and those attending special education.
Until now, children with an IQ below 86 were excluded from reimbursement for their monodisciplinary speech therapy sessions, i.e. within the framework of care provided by speech therapists only. They only benefited from it during multidisciplinary care, provided by different therapists in collaboration.
